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PICTURE MUSIC (1975)
' 'BLACKDANCE (1974) < > TIMEWIND (1975) PICTURE MUSIC is the fourth solo album by Klaus Schulze, originally released January 1975. Tracks #''Totem'' (23:45) #''Mental Door'' (23:00) #''C'est Pas La Même Chose (33:00) Bonus Track '' Details Recording Date: Autumn 1974 Recording site(s): Berlin Recording engineer(s): Klaus Schulze Producer(s): Klaus Schulze Composer(s): Klaus Schulze Musician(s): Klaus Schulze Notes Historically, PICTURE MUSIC was incorrectly identified as Schulze's third album, allegedly preceding BLACKDANCE (1974), based on an erroneous liner note stating it was recorded in 1973. His first five albums were displayed in correct order on the back cover of his next album, TIMEWIND (1975), but his tenth album "X." (1978) displayed the previous albums with PICTURE MUSIC explicitly identified as the third, dated 1973, implying this was the release date as well. The same declaration was made on his twentieth album EN=TRANCE (1988). When preparing a detailed discography in the 1990s, Schulze's biographer and publicity manager Klaus D. Müller researched his personal diaries and discovered that the album did not go to press until early 1975. The album is now identified as a January 1975 release at Schulze's website, which Müller maintains. Despite the album sounding somewhere between BLACKDANCE and TIMEWIND, Müller concluded at the time that the album was probably recorded before BLACKDANCE, but released after. Later, Müller discovered that Schulze had not acquired an EMS VCS 3 synthesizer until mid 1974, so the album must have been recorded in the latter half of that year, after the recording of BLACKDANCE. Therefore the official discography was revised again, and PICTURE MUSIC is now regarded as Schulze's fourth album for both recording and release dates. This is the only Klaus Schulze solo album in which he can be heard playing a drum kit. PICTURE MUSIC in its various editions, has more cover art designs than any other Klaus Schulze album, and another reason for confusion of release order of albums lies in the choice of original cover artist. The first cover was a painting of an abstract man and background by Jacques Wyrs. The previous album, BLACKDANCE, featured a similar concept painted by Urs Amann, and in 1975, Schulze commissioned Amann to make new covers for all his previous albums, as well as his next, TIMEWIND. The original Wyrs cover was taken as evidence that PICTURE MUSIC must precede the era of the Amann covers sequence. Schulze did commission an Amann cover for PICTURE MUSIC as well, probably after the first edition of the album was released, but BRAIN did not have a reason to pay the expense of having a new cover designed, and rejected it. But the Amann cover was used on a French edition. More covers also appeared. A 1970s release in Belgium uses a cover portrait of Schulze, framed to match the cover of a later album, MOONDAWN. BRAIN issued a series of budget reissues around 1980, with new cover art designed "in house" to keep costs down by not paying royalties on cover art, and replaced the original Wyrs cover with a new design of a framed portrait of a child, balanced upright on one corner in a barren field. In 1985, GRAMAVISION in the USA reissued parts of Schulze's back catalogue with new covers showing printed circuit boards superimposed over photographs of landscapes. In 2005 PICTURE MUSIC was the second Schulze album reissued by REVISTED RECORDS as part of a series of Schulze album reissues. The bonus track is a longer version of Totem. Some music from PICTURE MUSIC was used in a german TV documentary about spiders in 1975. Equipment EMS VCS3 synthesizer, ARP Odyssey synthesizer, ARP 2600 synthesizer, Farfisa Professional Duo organ, drums, percussion Releases Germany *1975 BRAIN 1067 (green Brain) LP *1979 BRAIN 0040.146 (black Brain) LP *? BRAIN 0001.067 (orange Brain) LP *? BRAIN 0040.146 (orange Brain) LP *1988 BRAIN 831 751-4 Cassette *2005 SPV/REVISTED RECORDS REV 002 CD Digipak France *1975 CLEMENTINE CLE 33007 LP *1976 ISADORA ISA 9007 LP *1986 AVI CD 2003 CD *1991 FNAC 662013 CD *1985 SPALAX 14923 CD *1986 SPALAX 14123 LP Netherlands *1976 ARIOLA 27 583 XAT LP Great Britain *1989 THUNDERBOLT CDTL 002 CD *1990 THUNDERBOLT / MAGNUM CDTB 098 CD USA *1985 GRAMAVISION 18-7021-1 LP Japan *1976 BRAIN / METRONOME UXP-677-EB LP *2007 ARCANGELO ARC-7267 CD Papersleeve